Apple and Australian watchdog mediation over iPad ‘4G’ fails

“Mediation between Apple and Australia’s competition watchdog has ended without a resolution,” Lucy Battersby reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.

“The next phase of the case will be determined at a directions hearing this afternoon before Justice Mordecai Bromberg of the Federal Court in Melbourne,” Battersby reports. “The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took the world’s biggest company to court on March 27 after it failed to respond to its concerns that the name of its new tablet – iPad Wifi + 4G – would mislead Australian consumers… [as] it is not compatible with any Australian 4G networks.”

Battersby reports, “The parties were going to discuss whether Apple would change the name of the product at mediation. But the mediation session scheduled for 10.15am AEST concluded about midday without the parties reaching an agreement.”

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hmm…. third world countries might probably suit you well, because USA and Canada are the only countries in the world, third or not, using 4G LTE 700 MHz band, nowhere else!

We Europeans use mostly the 1800 MHz band for 4G LTE. So, Apple marketing it’s device as 4G LTE in most parts of the world is not 4G LTE as announced. We really don’t care whether it fits your definition in USA/Canada or for that matter Africa or not, because it does not fit ours.
If “you” are marketing your stuff in a 550 M people market as Europe like double the USA population, then follow our description or definition of what is 4G LTE or don’t market the device at all in other markets.

But, when you mention it, in fact we Europeans often think of USA as a third world-like country in telecommunications, sorry.

Why are there different definitions of 4G anyway?
Thats the problem with 4G everybody calls different things 4G.
Because it is garbage and all just marketing and as far as I know NOONE has true 4G. just 3.5G or 3.9G or something like that.

I have the new iPad, and here in the UK we don’t even have a 4G network licenced, let alone installed and working. Oddly enough, there have been no issues with customers or government getting all pissy about this.
Must be just Aussies being jackasses again…

The difference being that you don’t have a 4g network so you wouldn’t expect to receive a 4g service on your iPad where as we do, and if the consumer is not informed of the incompatible frequency they will not know, although I do believe it’s up to the retailer to make the consumer aware of this detail and not Apple.
This is the sort of comment I would expect from just another dumb ass Pom .

concerns that the name of its new tablet – iPad Wifi + 4G – would mislead Australian consumers… [as] it is not compatible with any Australian 4G networks.

You know what I’m going to say: There is NO SUCH THING AS 4G ANYWHERE!

Australia are high if they think their ‘4G’ argument holds water. Apple have been publicly reluctant to name their iOS devices ‘4G’ because they know full well that ‘4G’ remains only a MARKETING SCAM that feeds the Spirit Of The Age: “Screw Thy Customer”.

WHEN actual, factual 4G exists in the world, THEN let Aus start suing people. In the meantime, it’s a 3G world with lots of different versions and speeds all over the fracking map. DEAL WITH IT.

AND AUS: Like I said would happen, Apple CHANGED THEIR MARKETING SCHPEEL in your country to reflect the fact that the iPad ‘4G’ fits only two versions of the FAKE ‘4G’ platform, neither of which are in Aus. Or didn’t you figure that out yet?

The ACCC is a very important organisation to keep big companies in check. However, this is truly a non-issue. Australians have been complaining about the misleading practises of financial institutions and telecommunications carriers for years, yet the ACCC is wasting its time on this, which is sorted by the qualification anyway.